I did a few things, like rebuilding everything installed in media-sound/* and it didn't fix the problem. I then recompiled glibc and it seems it fixed the problem after a reboot. Well, I cannot be sure it is the recompile of glibc that fixed the problem. I can only tell I did shutdown and power-off the computer after I recompiled glibc and rebooted a day later and everything is fixed. So, the root cause isn't clearly identified._________________Achille Talon Hop!

I did a few things, like rebuilding everything installed in media-sound/* and it didn't fix the problem. I then recompiled glibc and it seems it fixed the problem after a reboot. Well, I cannot be sure it is the recompile of glibc that fixed the problem. I can only tell I did shutdown and power-off the computer after I recompiled glibc and rebooted a day later and everything is fixed. So, the root cause isn't clearly identified.

Maybe it is just shutdown that helped it ? It used to be when alsa was really modular, that it is was easy to reload all modules with /etc/init.d/alsasound restart, and that would usually reset the sound card. Now it has to be done by hand, or having a reboot.

After some updates and a reboot, the sound system seems not working again. However, after further testing here is what I found. When using a Bluetooth device, the sound is working fine with this device. The mic of the USB webcam seems to work too. It is the PCI card (well in fact the integrated sound engine snd-hda-intel ALC892) which seems to refuse working. When starting the pulseaudio gui, I can see the sound level bar moving as I am playing something with VLC. However, there is absolutely no sound from the speakers. Yes, the power-cord is plugged and the sound jack too.

I tried with alsamixer to play with the settings, it doesn't change anything. Same thing if I try to change the settings in the pulseaudio gui.

I really have no idea what I can try. Any idea/hint is welcomed._________________Achille Talon Hop!

I got it! A conflict with timidity was at the origin of the problem. I did stop timidity and the sound came back again. So, likely an update to timidy caused the problem, will investigate later._________________Achille Talon Hop!